Inspiring Grad: Jasmine Hobbs, UNM College of Nursing

Jasmine Hobbs, RN, grew up in Grants, N.M., spending time in the hospital with her grandfather and watching nurses show up with compassion and warmth for families on their hardest days. That memory stayed with her.

This spring, she will graduate from The University of New Mexico College of Nursing with her Doctor of Nursing Practice in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care, ready to return to her rural community as the kind of provider she always admired.

Hobbs is very close with her grandfather, who she described as a miracle man. He survived multiple heart attacks over the years.

"I've always wanted to be a nurse and go into the health care community, just seeing the amazing work they do and how kind they are to people on the worst day of their life," Hobbs said. "That really is what drew me to become a nurse."

She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the UNM College of Nursing in 2022, then, returned for her DNP in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care, focusing on comprehensive care for adults and elderly patients with acute, critical and complex chronic illnesses.

It was a choice years in the making. From her shifts in the Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Department, older patients had always been her favorite.

"I love geriatric patients," Hobbs said. "You get to hear all about their lives. My grandfather's influence in my life has really furthered how much I want to work with the geriatric community."

Hobbs came to the UNM College of Nursing DNP program with four years of Emergency Department experience.

"I had a lot of realizations during that time where I wanted to take my skills to the next level," she said. "I really felt like I had something to offer my community in a more educated and advanced position."

Grants is a small mining town about 80 miles west of Albuquerque. It is surrounded by the Navajo Nation and Pueblos of Acoma, Laguna and Zuni.

While completing the three-year program, Hobbs balanced coursework and frequent travel to Albuquerque, with clinical rotations and a full-time job at Cibola General Hospital in Grants.

Through it all, she stayed focused on her goal of returning to the community she loves. She credits her family, humble and kind people who raised her the same way, with instilling in her a deep investment in the people around her.

In a town where everybody knows everybody, those bonds run personal, professional and everything in between.

"As an ER nurse there, and as a patient in the community, I really see how much rural communities struggle in New Mexico with the provider shortage," Hobbs said. "Being able to come back in this capacity really means a lot to me personally because I see both sides."

Reaching this point, she said, has been a long time coming. She is the first among her grandparents' grandchildren to earn a graduate degree. For UNM College of Nursing Dean Rosario Medina, Ph.D., graduates like Hobbs are at the heart of what the college works toward.

"Jasmine is rooted in her community, and she never lost sight of that," Medina said. "She is exactly the kind of nurse our state needs. That is what this work is really about. Improving access, improving outcomes, and making sure that people in every corner of New Mexico get the care they deserve."

After graduation, Hobbs plans to remain in Grants and continue working with her local hospital in an advanced provider role. To students still working toward their own finish line, she offered the reminder she needed most along the way.

"I know it feels overwhelming and like it's never going to end, but, before you know it, in a blink it's over," Hobbs said. "Nursing is so hard, but it's so fulfilling."

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